The Strongest Man
by Yakuzaman5
Summary: "Father, I'm... already married." The words, when he first heard them, caught him off guard. But nothing could prepare him for what her husband really was.
1. Chapter 1

Chrom sighed as he took a long look around the camp ground. He shuffled his feet, wondering just what the day would bring.

He heard someone come up to him, and he turned to face them. "Ah, Lucina." He said. It still felt strange to him that his daughter was here, fully grown, from a future that he hoped would never come. "What brings you to find me?"

"Nothing of importance." She said. She stood next to him, following his gaze. She was so very like him. He thought. Cynthia had taken more after her mother, but Lucina was already proving herself to be a more than capable leader, warrior, and ally. "I just wanted to spend the morning with you."

He nodded in understanding. "Very well,then." He said. "Perhaps you can help me with preparations?"

"Yes, I would like that."

He had not expected Lucina to be such a diligent princess... at least, not until several years had passed. But she performed all of her duties extraordinarily well, even though her precsense among them was in and of itself unusual.

"Are there others look you?"

"From the future, you mean?" She asked. He nodded. She smiled grimly to herself as she looked down, deep in thought. "A fair few." She said. "But time travel is... well, not a precise thing, and we ended up getting scattered. I have not been able to find any of them."

She looked deeply troubled. "I'm sure they remained in hiding until the time came to reveal themselves." He said. "Now that you are here, I'm sure we will start finding your friends."

She smiled at him. "Yes... I know we will." She said. "Someday..."

She placed her hand over her heart, and looked down, to the side. Chrom was suddenly reminded very strongly of a legendary Princess he had read about as a child. "Father... How did you and Mother meet?"

He was at a loss for words. "That's... not something any daughter should hear." He said, after a very awkward pause. "That is... umm... a very personal moment between your mother and I." He felt his face starting to heat up. He had to look away from her. "You will understand when you get older." He said quickly. "When you yourself are married."

Lucina fidgeted uncomfortably. "Father... I... about that..."

"Is something the matter, Lucina?" He asked, concerned. This was very much unlike her.

"I haven't told you this yet, and I really hope you don't disapprove, but I..." She swallowed. "I'm... already married..."

He was more surprised than outraged. "Really?" He asked, again marveling at how fast his daughter had grown... faster than anyone could have imagined. "But when did this happen?"

"In the future!" Lucina said quickly. "I... didn't have you to consult with, so we just sort of... exhanged vows, right before we left." She shook her head. She was clearly a little distressed. "I hope you don't disapprove..."

"No, no." He said. "You had every right to pick your own husband, considering the circumstances..." He looked at her, concerned. "But you're only just now telling me that you're married?" He asked.

"I'm sorry!" She wailed. "It just... it just slipped my mind, is all." He believed her. She had been working so hard lately, keeping something like this a secret clearly wasn't intentional.

"It's alright." He told her. "Did he come back with you?"

She nodded, now a little more calm. "Yes, with the rest of us." She smiled, not directed at him, but instead somehow distant. "Actually, he was the one who suggested time travel as a solution in the first place."

"Really?" This was the first time he had heard of this.

"He is not from these lands, but from somewhere very far away." She said. "But neither is he from our time. He came here because of an accident, but it's because of him that we managed to make it this far." She sighed. "He's the strongest person I know." She confessed. "No one can match him in battle."

He had thought he was the person she looked up to most, but apparently that was not the case. Someone had stolen her heart before he had even gotten a chance to know her. "I hope he's a good man, Lucina." He said.

She smiled. "Don't worry, Father." She said. "I made the right choice, believe me..."

"Perhaps you should let your mother know?" He suggested. "I'm sure she will be thrilled..."

"Yes, I think I will do that..." She murmured. "I have put this off for far too long."

She bade her farewells and left him standing there, lost in thoughts. "Married..." He said to himself, shaking his head. "Who would have thought?"

His wife, however, did not take the news nearly as well as he did.

"I can't believe she married when I couldn't be there!"

He looked up at her, bemused. "That's what you're upset about?" He asked.

She huffed, crossing her arms. She was far too young to be acting this way, but he found it strangely attractive regardless. "Our first daughter gets married and we weren't there to see it." She said. "Doesn't that bother you?"

"It does." He admitted. "But we weren't there for her in general, not just for... that."

She sighed. "All the more reason to stop the future from happening, huh?" She asked. She scratched her nose. "Does Robin know?"

"I haven't mentioned it to him yet." He said. "I mean, he and Anna just found Morgan, I imagine he has his hands full with her."

"That girl is trouble, alright." Sumia agreed. "But you should still mention it... If we ever find her husband, he'll want to put them together."

"We will find him." He said. "It's only a matter of time."

...

The next day found them in yet another destroyed village. "Risen did this." Say-ri said in disgust, kicking over a corpse full of gashes. "Walhart has a million strong army and he can't even spare some soldiers to protect villages..."

Chrom took a good, hard look around the village. "There doesn't seem to be a lot of bodies here." He said. "Perhaps they are survivors?"

"It is possible." She said, standing up. "Perhaps in one of the buildings?"

To his pleasant surprise, they found a number of people holed up in many of the buildings in the area. After being assured that it was safe to come out, they did so, warily at first, but eventually they were comfortable enough to explain what happened.

"A single man did more for us than your entire army could do." The man spat at him. "A million of you is nothing compared to that kind of strength!"

"He seems fine." Say-ri told him, rather unncessarily, as they walked away. "But there's not much more we can do for them under the circumstances..."

"Father!"

Lucina waved him over, clearly beside herself with excitement. They approached her. "What is it?"

"I think it must be him, Father." She said brightly. He had never seen her so happy. "Stength not of this world... That sure sounds like him, alright."

"Surely she is still in that honeymoon phase." Say-ri commented, as she ran off to rally a search party again. "Where her new husband can do no wrong."

"Perhaps." He said. "But I'm just glad she's happy for once."

"Aye." She said, nodding. "It's good for her to act her age for once."

Robin, however, was unconvinced. "You think your husband did this?" He asked. Far from town, there were finding intense signs of battle. Shattered trees and strange craters littered the landscape. "It looks more like a natural disaster..."

"No, It's him." She said. "I know it."

...

"Chrom."

He was pushed awake by Robin. He slide out of bed. "What is it?"

"Trouble, I think."

He went, right ahead, Robin trotting along on his heels. "I don't know who this guy is, but he's not leaving." He hissed. "Be wary of him, Chrom..."

He nodded, gripping the Falchion tightly in his hand.

The stranger stood there in a circle surrounded by men from the army. "I don't want to fight you." He said. "I just heard Chrom was here, and I thought..."

"You heard correctly." Chrom said. "I'm Chrom."

The man's face brightened. "Yeah, you are!" He said, taking a quick glimpse towards Falchion. "I've been looking everywhere for you..."

He was not familiar to Chrom at all. His clothing was unknown to him, and he had never seen such purple hair in his life...

"And who may you be?" He asked. "A messanger from Walhart, perhaps?"

"No, no." He said. "I'm with you..." He scratched his nose. "Is... uh..." He struggled to find the words."Marth with you yet?"

"Yes." He nodded. "So you're from the future as well?"

He looked pleased. "Oh, you know about that, do you?" He asked. "No need to explain it this time, then..."

He laughed. Chrom did not see what was so funny. "So you're friends with Lucina, then?"

Before he could answer, a surprised shriek came from behind him. "Trunks!"

The man laughed as a familiar blue girl raced past him and into his arms. "Lucina!" He said, lauging a little, as he picked her up and spun her around. "Wow, you look great!"

She giggled, looking up at him with a slightly pouty expression. "You kept me waiting!"

"Sorry, I had no idea where you were." He said. "I was off training, and I didn't hear the war started until recently... so I came running."

"You're the worst." Lucina said, sighing.

Chrom thought it best to jump in now.

"What is going on here?" He asked.

"Oh!" Lucina said, pulling away from the man, Trunks, suddenly looking embarassed. "Father... Oh... Ummm..." She nervously looked from between the two of them. "This is my husband." She said. "The strongest man... Trunks."


	2. Chapter 2

Chrom was still unsure of what to make of Lucina's new husband. It was awkward for both of them, he imagined, to hold a real conversation considering the nature of their relationship. Trunks had married his daughter, in the distant future, and had come back to set things right. It had taken two years to realize the truth behind Lucina's identity, and a part of him still couldn't believe that it was truly his daughter.

But to think that she was married on top of that made him absolutely mad. How could she not have mentioned this before? He had no idea what to say to Trunks about this.

Trunks, however, to his credit, seemed to understand how he was feeling. "My father was the same way." He said, when Chrom admitted this to him.

"Your father?"

Trunks nodded. "Did Lucina not mention it to you?" He asked. "I was a time traveler who ended up in her world." He said. "I had met my Father on my trip, and he..." He laughed, shaking his head a little. "He did not take to me well at all, even after he realized who I was, until a year afterward."

"You came from the future as well?" He asked sharply. "Even farther than the future than Lucina?"

"I..." He shook his head again. "I'm not sure." He admitted. "It's possible that I completely changed the world when I set out what I wanted to do... but... well..."

He looked troubled.

"I think I may have ended up somewhere else entirely." He said. "Nothing here resembles where I came from at all."

"How so?"

"The people are much different, the land is different, maps show a continent that I've never seen before, the history here is different..." He shrugged. "I'm somewhere else entirely. Not where I wanted to go."

"But how is that possible?" Chrom asked. "If you were only trying to travel through time, and had succeeded before..."

"Time travel is tricky." Trunks said. "We were never sure, going into it on how it would effect the future I came from. I'm sure Lucina has talked about this before..."

He nodded.

"Well, my theory... and understand that this is just a theory... is that my future simply doesn't exist anymore." He said. He sounded distant. Chrom wondered whether just how confident he was in his theory. "But I think it's impossible to know for sure."

He looked away from Chrom, deep in thought. Chrom thought it best to press him further. "Have you no family?"

"I have my mother." He said. "Nothing else." He clenched his fist. Clearly, something was bothering him. "But once I met Lucina, I... had to help her." A faint blush touched his cheeks. "And then we just sort of... ended up married."

Chroms stared at him, trying to work out what he wasn't telling him. Why would Lucina choose him, out of all the others? Someone who wasn't even from this world?

Lucina was not talking either, although she was more than willing to... if he bent to her will and told the story of how he had met _her_ mother. Needless to say, he was anxious to get the answer out of Trunks rather than submit to... THAT option.

"Trunks, I would like to fight you."

He looked taken aback. "What?"

"You haven't drawn your sword at all since you came here." He said. "I'd like to get the chance to see how skilled you are."

"Oh, no, I couldn't..." He said, a little too quickly. "I... umm... I have other things to be doing."

Was he frightened? Of him? If anything, that knowledge emboldended him to act out. "If you are going to be a part of this army," He said, rising to his full height. "You're going to have to pull your weight. You can't run away from battle, Trunks..."

"Oh, no, I'm not running away." Trunks said quickly. "I just don't... Well..." He looked sheepish, casting a glance at his hand, where he was already gripping Falchion. "I don't think that's necessary." He said. "Lucina can give you an idea of what I can do."

"Nonsense." Chrom said shortly. "I have not seen you fight firsthand, and I think we need to settle this now."

"Forgive me, Lucina..."

Chrom had already turned around to get some distance. He looked back at him, puzzled. "What did you say?"

"Nothing." He said, dejectedly. "Let's get this over with, then."

Chrom drew the Falchion and stared Trunks down. "Well?" He asked. "How about we make this a little fun?"

"Fun?" He repeated. Despite his previous reluctance, he had taken hold of the sword on his back as well.

"That's right." He said, pleased that he had steeled himself. "How about we make a little game of this?"

"How do you mean?" He asked.

"If I win, you tell me all about how you and Lucina met." He said. "And if you win..."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." He said quickly. "I am... uh, not going to lose."

He said it in a surprisingly matter of fact way, but Chrom paid no mind to that. "Overconfident, are you?" He asked. "Is not telling that story that important to you?"

He frowned. "Well, you could have just asked." He said. "But sure, I'll take the bet."

"Alright." Chrom said. "Prepare yourself... Here I come!"

It was over before he had even blinked. Trunk's punch had caught him right in the stomach. His armor plate shattered into pieces as he fell backwards, his eyes wide. "What... happened?"

His sword clattered to the side as he fell over. Trunks stood over him, looking down at him pitifully. "Are you alright?" He asked.

He laid his head down on the ground, trying to wrap his head around what had just happened.

"Father!"

And Lucina was there, cupping her hands around him. "Oh, Trunks. Tell me you didn't..."

They spoke for a while. Chrom not registering the conversation, although she could tell that Lucina was upset with him.

"If you had hurt him, Trunks..."

But over time, he had managed to calm her down.

"He had to find out eventually, I suppose." She said, looking down at him. "Are you alright, Father?"

"I'm fine." He said, sitting up for a bit. "But Trunks... I think we need to talk again sometime."

"Once you are feeling better, we will."

...

The two of them ate in silence, a far cry from the night he had returned. They had spent the whole night sitting up and just talking. Had that really only been last night?

"What do you think of my father?"

He looked up, surprised that she had finally spoke. "I'm not sure yet." He replied, honestly. "He's not being himself around me."

"Yes, I thought as much." She said. "I did not mention him to you at all."

That kind of hurt. He would have thought that she would have mentioned their marriage to her parents immediately once she had the chance to do so. "Why not?"

She set her cup down. "I'm sorry." She said. "But it has been two years since I arrived, and you were not my priority."

He knew her well enough to know what she meant. She had spent the last two years working to avert the death of her family. And she had not succeeded.

The Queen, Lucina's aunt Emmeryn, had already been murdered by the time Trunks had arrived. And as such, he had no way of knowing where Lucina was hiding. He had had no choice but to wait until the Valmese invasion before searching for her.

She had been a little younger than him when they had first met, but time travel had aged her a year older than he had. She had grown a little bit. Had become much stronger. He noticed she was eating better as well. She had often gone without meals in her future in order to keep her soldiers fed.

"I know." He said. "I know what's it's like to be in your situation."

She smiled at him. "Yes, I tried to keep what you told me in mind... meet my father first, I mean. He actually recognized me!" She seemed pleased at the fact. "I mean, I had to be born first before he understood, but once he looked at my face he just... knew."

Vegeta had not known Trunk's identity until Piccolo had referred to him by name. She was much more fortunate than he.

"I think he's a good man." Trunks said. "We're lucky to have met him."

"Yes." She said. "I think he likes you, it's just..." She giggled, a rare thing to see from her. "Well, he didn't expect to see me married so soon!"

They actually both laughed at that, and Trunks felt himself relax.

"It's so nice to be with you again, Trunks." She said sincerely. "I mean that. I feel as if we have spent more time apart than together."

He nodded. He felt the same way. "Indeed." He said. "But I'm not going to let us be pulled apart again."

"I believe you."


End file.
